Environmental research

NO CASH FINANCING IN THIS PROJECT Agro-processing is a very important activity for the farming communities in Bhutan. Rural households depend to a large extent on indigenous agro-processing techniques like water mills and grinders for their daily life and used by a majority of the people in rural Bhutan. It has been in use for centuries and has been an essential part of village life. In Bhutan, water mills (locally known as chuthag) have traditionally been used to generate mechanical power, principally used for the purpose of grinding food grains. Traditional chuthags were constructed with wooden runners and chutes, since wood as readily available for construction purposes. The other type of grinder used at the individual household level is rangthag which is hand-driven stone mill. The traditional water mill has been used over the ages to grind flour. The wooden turbines made by local carpenters, are rotated using water which drive the grinding stone to grind corn, wheat, and other grains for the local agricultural community. The technology is simple and environmentally friendly using only the resources available within the locality. In Bhutan, wheat, barley and buckwheat is mainly grown for grains. The grains are used in the form of processed products, mainly flour. They are versatile food grain and its flour can be used in several culinary preparations. Bumthang and Trongsa are two of the most important dzongkhags producing cereals which are mostly ground into flour for daily consumption and other uses. The two Dzongkhags together have more than one-fourth of the total land area used for production of wheat, barley and buckwheat crops. The table below indicates the importance of these crops to the people of this region for their daily sustenance.

Bhutan